PM Narendra Modi reunites Nepalese youth with parents after 16 years

KATHMANDU: In a special humanitarian gesture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today personally handed over a Nepalese youth to his parents here having nurtured him for 16 years.

26-year-old Jeet Bahadur, who is currently pursuing BBA in Ahmedabad, had come to India in 1998 along with his brother looking for work like many other migrants from Nepal.

Bahadur came in contact with Modi in Ahmedabad over a decade back and was since looked after by him. He travelled with Prime Minister Modi to Kathmandu to be personally handed over to his mother and elder brother.

At the hotel where the Indian delegation is staying, Prime Minister Modi met Bahadur's family members who have moved here from their native place Kawasoti in Nawalparasi district in western Nepal where they live in a slum area.

His family members include his mother Khagisara, elder brother Dasharath, his wife and younger sister Prem Kumari.

"Bringing a family together! @PMOIndia 1st engagement in Nepal was to bring together Jeet Bahadur's family," Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Syed Akbaruddin tweeted along with a photograph of the Prime Minister with Bahadur's family.

After coming to India with his elder brother, Bahadur worked in Rajasthan for a brief period. However, after sometime he decided to return to Nepal as he was unhappy with his job.

While leaving Rajasthan, he mistakenly boarded an Ahmedabad-bound train instead of one going to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, which borders Nepal.

On arriving in Ahmedabad, a woman took him to the house of Modi who had till then not become the Chief Minister. Since then, Bahadur had been in Modi's care.

However, after Modi became the Prime Minister and moved to Delhi, Bahadur shifted to the university hostel.

Indian Embassy officials in Kathmandu earlier visited Bahadur's family in Kawasoti and informed them about Modi's visit and his desire to meet them.

On the eve of his two-day trip yesterday, Modi had tweeted, "On a personal note, my Nepal visit is very special...Some personal emotions are also attached to this visit."

In a series of tweets, Modi said he met Bahadur years back in a helpless condition and narrated some subsequent developments.

"Years back, I met a child Jeet Bahadur in a helpless condition. He knew nothing, where to go, what to do. He did not know anybody, nor did he understand the language," he said.

"Guided by God, I started thinking about him. Gradually, he developed interest in studies and playing. He also learned Gujrati language," he said.

Modi said sometime back, he was able to locate Bahadur's parents. "This was possible because he (Bahadur) has six fingers in his foot," he tweeted.

"Thankfully, we were able to locate his parents. I am glad that tomorrow the parents would be reunited with their son," the Prime Minister said.

26-year-old Jeet Bahadur, who is currently pursuing BBA in Ahmedabad, had come to India in 1998 along with his brother looking for work.

"I told the Prime Minister that I am grateful that you took care of my son. Under your guidance, he has got educated and become a good person," said Jeet's mother while narrating her interaction with Modi.

The way Jeet was lost and reunited with his family is an interesting story.

He came to Rajasthan with his brother Dasharath for work. "After some time, I returned home (to Nepal) as I was unhappy with the work," Dasharath told . Jeet stayed back.

"After some time, I returned to the place where we used to work but did not find Jeet there. I searched everywhere but could not locate him. Finally I concluded that he had got lost," the brother recalled.

Jeet had by then mistakenly taken a wrong train and reached Ahmedabad where he came in contact with Modi in 1998, when he was not even the Chief Minister.

However, about two years back there was yet another twist in the story. Dasharath got a message that Jeet has been found.

"I could not believe it. And at the same time I had lot of apprehensions. I had apprehensions that it may be someone else and not my brother," Dasharath said.

But Jeet had a rare identification mark. One of his feet has six fingers, two conjoined. Dasharath asked Jeet over phone whether he had six fingers and he replied in affirmative. There were some other memories of the childhood which he was asked to confirm and the information matched.

Jeet's family in a remote part of Nepal was found at the behest of Modi.

As Chief Minister of Gujarat, he had told a top businessman of Nepal Binod Choudhary during a FICCI meet in Gujarat two years back to help locate Jeet's family.

Choudhary immediately assigned the task to one of his company staffer R C Dhital who performed the task within days.

"It is a moving story. Even though Modi is so busy, he had this in mind that Jeet's family should be located and told me about it. It shows what kind of a heart the great leader Modi has," said Choudhary, who heads Choudhary Group of Industries, a big group in Nepal.